Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2001 09:13:06 -0700 (PDT)
From: Author James
Subject: Adventures Of A Real Dark Knight 7
Disclaimer: This story, though maybe not in this chapter but in subsequent
chapters, will have celebrities in it. I have no knowledge of their
sexuality and this is not intended to imply their sexuality. This is all
from my own mind. Scary!! People actually get a glimpse into my mind!!!
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters created by Joss
Whedon. Copyright 20th Century Fox.
Batman, and all related characters created by Bob Kane. Copyright DC Comics
and Warner Bros.
X-MEN, and all related characters created by Stan Lee. Copyright Marvel
Comics and 20th Century Fox.
Star Trek and all related characters created by Gene Roddenberry.
Copyright Paramount Studios.
I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in
case, I have myself covered.
In this story, which has been floating around in my head most of my life,
you will find many universes merging, as the above copyrights reveal. I
hope you all enjoy this. I appreciate any feedback that you may want to
give. This story doesn't deal so much with sex, sex, sex, but more of my
feelings that I struggled with and am starting to come to terms with. Part
of his background is mine. I do hope that you enjoy it!!!
This section of chapters is a continuation of my first story "Tales of a
Real Dark Knight". I have received many emails from people who have
enjoyed it and some from those who do not. I would enjoy hearing from you.
Any emails you send, please tell me what chapter and story you are
commenting on. Thanks.
jmsotc@yahoo.com
This chapter was co-written by one of my readers. He came up with the idea
and we put together the story. Here is his email address. I'm sure he
would be happy to receive feedback from you.
jas931@hotmail.com
Chapter 7 Childhood Traumas
I went home after work and rested. I couldn't believe what Carly's
mom put her through. Children hurting have always bothered me greatly.
For some reason, it's like I take it personally, like I feel the pain they
go through. It always unnerves and angers. Me. I decided to go on patrol
to help relieve some of the tension I was feeling.
The streets had been strangely quiet since Bortos' big plot to
throw the world and the humans into chaos. With the help of the X-MEN and
I, the Huntress was able to stop it. Thank God. The world has enough
confusion and chaos without some demon-wizard wanting to cause more.
As I swung through a quiet suburb of Los Angeles, I came upon an
ambulance at a house. Normally, I wouldn't concern myself with such things
as the proper authorities had the situation well in hand, but I decided to
stop anyway. As I approached the window, I noticed a young man struggling
to get away from the paramedics. He must have been terrified at what
happened to his parents. I could see plainly that his parents lie on the
floor dead. Poor kid. He's confused himself. Scared. Me barging in
dressed the way I was would not have helped the matter either.
I turned to go but noticed the boy backing up to the fireplace.
The paramedic got up close to him and I realized the paramedic had no
reflection in the mirror over the mantel.
"Vampires," I whispered out loud.
The vampire paramedic moved in close when I lunged through the
window and rolled on my back coming up to my feet. The vampire turned
around and I could easily tell he was a vampire. His pointed fangs and
bumpy head and cold eyes gave him away.
The three turned to me: the boy and the two paramedics.
"Batman," the vampires said.
The one closest to the door jumped at me. I swung my fist up and
caught him in the face knocking him back. With a quick motion, I pulled
out a wooden stake from one of my pouches and rammed it into his heart. I
did all this without taking my eyes off the vampire by the boy.
"Step away from the boy," I said.
"No."
"And why not?"
"Because I'm hungry."
The vampire grabbed the boy and pulled him up to bite him. I threw
the stake away from them. The vampire just smiled at me. I relaxed and my
consciousness reached out. I grabbed the stake and brought it around the
other side of the vampire and rammed it into his heart from behind. He
never saw it coming.
The boy looked at me and I noticed the tears in his eyes. My heart
went out to him. He had to be no older than fifteen or sixteen.
"Are you okay?"
"My parents...they're..." the young man burst into tears.
I walked up to him and placed my hand on his shoulder. He grabbed
me around the waist and my heart melted.
"I know. I'm sorry."
The young man just held tight to my waist and cried.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Joshua. Joshua Monroe."
"Joshua, I'm going to call the police. They need to come and help
you."
"But what if they are like the paramedics? What if they turn into
monsters?"
"I'll stay close by to make sure everything is fine."
Reluctantly Joshua let me go. I understood his fears. I had them
myself from time to time. I wouldn't trust anyone who looked remotely like
a family members' killer.
I walked to the phone and dialed 9-1-1. The operator was very kind
and sent a cruiser over right away. I slipped out the back as they pulled
up. I watched from a window as they checked on the boy then took him away.
They were taking him to a foster parents home so he could be looked after.
I thought that would be the last I saw of him, but I was wrong.
The next day, I went into work with Joshua still on my mind. Poor
kid. No one should have to go through that.
"Hi, Debbie."
"Hi, Eric."
"How are things?"
"Good."
"That's good."
"Eric, I received a telephone call a few minutes ago. Human
Services has a child they want to be evaluated right away."
"For what? Don't they have psychologists already on their list to
help?"
"Yes, but this kid went through a traumatic experience. Your
reputation is growing by leaps and bounds."
"Did they set up a time?"
"Yes. Tomorrow at 9:30."
"Okay."
The rest of the day was uneventful and, afterwards, I went to see
Lance.
"Hi, Eric. Come on in." I walked in and couldn't fake the smile I
had on my face. Lance could tell I was faking. "What's wrong?"
"I just had the most awful day."
"Let's go talk about it."
I followed Lance into his bedroom. He led me over to his bed where
we sat on the edge.
"What happened?"
"I had a very difficult case at work today. I wish I could tell
you more, but I can't. Then I received a call from the Department of Human
Services and they have a child who's been through a traumatic experience
that they want me to evaluate.
"Why do children seem to be going through so much more than they
have to? It's so unfair. I wish I could just take them all away from this
evil world and take them to a safe place where children can be children and
not have to worry about violence or bigotry or hatred."
Tears welled up in my eyes and I buried my face in my hands. It
seemed as if this great burden had been placed on my shoulders and I had no
idea how to deal with it.
I felt Lance's hand on my back, then embrace me. He pulled me
close to him and I leaned against his body shuddering with the sobs.
"I'm sorry you are feeling this," Lance said. "I wish I knew what
to do to help you with this."
"Just you being here is enough," I replied.
I moved my arms to wrap around him and we just sat there holding
each other. Eventually I calmed down and composed myself.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to unload all this on you," I said.
"That's what friends are for, Eric."
I looked up at Lance and saw that gorgeous smile on his face. Part
of me wanted to just kiss it. But part of me restrained myself.
"And I have such a good friend in you." I stood up. "Can I use
your bathroom?"
"I don't know. Can you? Is everything working okay that you can
or is there a problem?" Lance said with a grin.
"MAY I use your bathroom?"
"Sure."
I went in and after doing what I needed to do, came out to see
Lance on the phone.
"Are you hungry?" he asked.
"Not really." I looked over at the clock. "Actually, I should get
going."
Lance moved his hands up to his free ear and used his fingers to
make his hand look like a telephone. Me mouthed the words "Call me" and I
nodded in acknowledgement as I left.
Once home, I showered and changed into my Bat-suit. I wanted to
patrol, no, I needed to patrol. I was still worked up from what happened
earlier in the day.
Patrol was the norm. I stopped two robberies and a potential rape.
It always felt good to see the bad guys fear me as I swooped down from the
sky to interrupt their evil actions. It's very empowering...and it makes
me feel like I'm doing my part to stop the evil in the city. Too bad I
couldn't do more for the rest of the world.
I went home and went to bed.
The following morning, I arrived at work to find a social worker
waiting for me, as well as Dr. Allison.
"Good morning," I said cheerfully.
"Good morning, Eric. This is Lena Bennett. She is with the
Department of Human Services."
"Good morning, Ms. Bennett."
"Good morning. And please, call me Lena."
"All right."
"Eric, let's talk in your office."
"Okay."
I led them to my office and closed the door behind them. The moved
over to my desk and sat on one side while I made my way around to the other
side.
"Can I get either of you something to drink?"
"No."
"No thanks."
I sat down.
"What's going on?"
Lena was the first to speak.
"We have a little boy in our custody. The night before last, his
parents were found dead in his house. The boy, it seems, came home to find
them. He called for an ambulance but the paramedics could not be found.
From coroner reports, an animal that may have also taken the paramedics
away attacked his parents. The boy's name is Joshua Monroe. We think he
knows more than he's telling."
"And what would you like me to do for you?"
"We want you to take him into your confidence. We know how
successful you have been in counseling children and teenagers and we hope
that you can do the same for Joshua. Try to get him to open up to you
about what happened. We need this information to catch his parents' killer
and to help him overcome this trauma."
"We don't know for sure if he does know who did this, though.
Correct?"
"Yes. But if the possibility is there, we must work it."
"I will tell you this right now. I'm not going to pump a kid for
information based on supposed scenarios. I will work on treating him first
and foremost. If it should come out that he knew what happened, it will
come out. If it doesn't come out, I will not push the issue. That's one
of the worst things you can do is push for information that is not ready to
surface or isn't even there. Do I make myself clear?"
Lena nodded. "Sure. Joshua will be here around 9:30. Good luck."
Lena stood and left the room. Dr. Allison looked at me.
"Spoken very well, but I must ask you one question."
"Sure."
"What the hell are you trying to do? We are on the same side. You
just made her sound like a villain. She's doing what's in the best
interest for the child and for the entire community."
"She's also willing to sacrifice the trust of one child for the
community. I'm sorry, but I think children are more important than that.
We should not push them beyond what they can handle."
"Children these days can handle much more than they could in the
past."
"Really? When the country was first settled, you could see
children marrying as teenagers, raising children and maintaining a family.
Now you see children being abused by their parents and peers, committing
suicide, and threatening and murdering other teens because of being bullied
and teased. The sad part is the ones who threaten others are thrown in
jail and the ones who are doing the teasing are left in the schools with
the excuse that teens act that way. They don't act that way and should not
be allowed to act that way."
"You have really thought about this, haven't you?"
"Dr. Allison, I had a little girl in here yesterday telling me
about how her mom physically assaults her because she spills milk. I have
a boy coming in here who found his parents dead and was exposed to God
knows how much trauma between then and the time the police arrived. I have
thought about this issue thousands of times. Children are in danger any
more. They need protected, loved and helped. They need courage and good
choices made available to them instead of them always being turned into
victims or criminals."
Dr. Allison remained silent for a moment. I took a few deep
breaths to calm down.
"Sorry, Doctor. I didn't mean to explode like that."
"Not at all. I understand your position, and, quite frankly, am
pleased with it."
With that Dr. Allison left me behind. I gathered some paper, pens
and pencils and prepared to evaluate Joshua.
Moments later the attractive fifteen-year old young man came in.
Knowing what he went through since I experienced it first hand, my heart
went out to him. But I had to play it off like I didn't know. I didn't
want him to find out who I was. That's the last thing I could do. It
would put him in danger of so much.
I stood up and walked over to him with my hand extended.
"Hello, Joshua. I'm Eric."
"Hi," he said grasping my hand and shaking it.
"Please have a seat...wherever you feel comfortable."
"Uh, thanks." Joshua sat on the couch and I sat in my usual chair.
"Why am I here?"
"Lena told me about what happened. You're here to talk about what
you're feeling."
"What should I talk about?"
"How about what's on your mind right now? What are you feeling?"
"Scared."
"Scared. Of what?"
"What's going to happen now that my parents are gone. They have
always been there for me. Now they are gone. Right after we moved here to
L.A. to begin with. I'm all alone in a strange place with no friends."
"Don't you have any friends at school?"
"Don't make me laugh. Everyone at school treats me bad."
"Why do they do that?"
"Because...I'm...different."
"Different? From looking at you, I'd say you are perfectly
normal."
"Far from it. I'm not attracted to girls."
"You mean you're gay." Joshua looked at me rather apprehensive. I
knew exactly what he was going through. It's a tough thing to hear about
yourself from someone else, especially when you haven't come to terms with
it yourself, or have not been exposed to many situations where you can hear
good things about being gay.
"Don't worry about it, Joshua. I don't think any less of you
because you are gay. I'm gay, too."
"Really?"
"Yep. Sure am."
"How did you deal with kids at school who would tease you?"
"Never had to. I was too busy denying my sexuality most of my
life. I didn't come out to any body until a year or so ago. I was too
busy hating myself."
"I know how that is. I've felt that. But now I'm hating other
people for making me feel guilty and evil for being this way."
"It's not a choice. Very few people can understand what it's like
for us. They believe it was a choice."
Joshua and I talked for the next hour about everything in his life,
his hopes and fears, his problems at school and with his classmates. We
explored much of his life and I felt we were becoming more than just
counselor and patient. I felt we were becoming friends.
Joshua departed with Lena when we finished and I felt some relief.
At least I could keep an eye on his progress by being his counselor, though
he must never know that I am Batman. If he were to find out, as it would
be if anyone were to find out, his life would be in danger. I could not
handle that. I shouldn't put anyone in that situation.
To Be Continued...